Tweaks in Alabama law could end land tax exemptions for some

Discussion

July 24, 2012

Tweaks in Alabama law could end land tax exemptions for some

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Tue Jul 24, 2012, 10:10 AM CDT

A change in Alabama law exempting some disabled or indigent homeowners from paying property taxes has create enough confusion to prompt revenue commissioners statewide to seek an opinion from the state attorney general on how to interpret its language.

Portions of the law regarding who’s eligible to receive exemptions were changed during the 2012 legislative session under HB 120, sponsored by Rep. Jack Williams (Vestavia Hills). That bill amended the Code of Alabama to expand the income threshold on homestead exemptions from $7,500 per year to $12,000 per year for those aged 65 and older.

Unlike the old law, the new wording also includes the income of property owners’ spouses in their household’s annual total. And, the new $12,000 income threshold now applies to everyone over age 65, including those who are permanently disabled.

Cullman County revenue commissioner Barry Willingham said Monday that’s a stipulation that doesn’t favor every homeowner who’s truly disabled — especially, under the new language, if he’s never worked as a result of disability.

“This law changes it so that, if you’re over 65, the income requirement has gone up from $7,500 to $12,000. In spirit, that’s a good law — it’s going to help people in that sense. But, they also changed the language so that now, you must be retired,” Willingham said. “That’s something I think that should have been left out.

“Their definition of ‘retired’ is that you must have been on the job working at some time in the past, and that at this time you are unable to do the work you were trained to do due to a disability. So if you’re a younger person who owns property, and you were born with a disability and never have been able to work — that’s kind of where we don’t know how we’re going to interpret this.”

For now, revenue commissioners in every county are free to interpret the law as they see fit. The state revenue office has promulgated a set of guidelines local revenue offices may follow, if they choose, that outline how the new law should be enforced.

In the meantime, revenue officials are preparing a request to Attorney General Luther Strange asking for clarification. Technically, there’s plenty of time for an answer — the new assessment guidelines aren’t set to take effect on property assessments until October of this year, and taxes paid under the changes won’t come due until fall of 2013.

“As long as we have an opinion by next October, really, we should be okay,” said Willingham. “But I’m probably going to start going out to the senior centers in a couple of months to answer questions about it, because that’s the group this affects the most. Hopefully, we’ll know something more concrete by then.”

* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

Text Only

Top News

Search Results

Discussion

Tweaks in Alabama law could end land tax exemptions for some

Site Map

Contact Us